The present invention relates to an arrangement of memory-card accommodating portions in a recording and reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to an arrangement of memory-card accommodating portions having a plurality of card slots for accommodating the memory cards.
An electronic apparatus such as audio equipment mounted in a console panel of a vehicle has a card slot for accommodating a memory card, and there is a type of this apparatus in which audio information and image information in the memory card are recordable and reproducible. In another type of this apparatus, a plurality of card slots are provided to allow desired information to be recordable and reproducible from among a greater number of items of information.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the arrangement of card entrance sides of memory-card accommodating portions in the above-described conventional recording and reproducing apparatus, FIG. 4A illustrates in a perspective view one example of arrangement of the memory cards including the aforementioned card slots and eject buttons, and FIG. 4B schematically illustrates another example of arrangement of the memory cards.
Referring to FIG. 4A, reference numeral 1 denotes a card receiving frame. A card slot 2 for receiving the memory card (not shown) is formed in the card receiving frame 1, and is mounted on each printed circuit board 3 provided in this recording and reproducing apparatus. A plurality of card slots 2 are provided in the recording and reproducing apparatus, are disposed adjacent to each other in a vertically aligned state, and are arranged so that the memory cards can be accommodated therein with their entire surface areas opposing each other. To eject the memory cards, eject buttons 4 which are operated by being pressed are provided in individual correspondence with the respective card slots. The eject buttons 4 are disposed adjacent to each other in a vertically aligned state in the vicinities of the respective ends of the mutually opposing sides of the card slots 2.
In FIG. 4B, to eject the card in a card slot 2A, one eject button 5A is disposed in the vicinity of one end side of each of card receiving frames 1A (card slot 2A) and 1B (card slot 2B) so as to commonly correspond to each of these card slots. Meanwhile, another eject button 5B is disposed in the vicinity of the other end side to eject the card in the card slot 2B.
In the apparatus in which, as shown in FIG. 4A, the card slots are arranged in a vertically aligned state, and the eject buttons are arranged in a vertically aligned state in the vicinity of each end in the vicinities of the respective ends of the mutually opposing sides of the card slots, since the eject buttons are located at positions which are close to each other, there has been a possibility of another eject button being pressed erroneously at the same time when a desired ejecting operation is performed, so that this arrangement has not been desirable.
In addition, in the apparatus in which, as shown in FIG. 4B, the card slots are arranged in the same way as described above, but the eject buttons are respectively disposed in the vicinities of one end side and the other end side of the card slots and one eject button is positioned so as to commonly correspond to the card slots, since the correspondence with the individual card slots is not necessarily clear, there has been a possibility of erroneous operation, so that this arrangement has not been desirable, either.
To overcome the above-described problems, an object of the invention is to render the operational efficiency of memory cards satisfactory by improving the arrangement o the memory-card accommodating portions in the recording and reproducing apparatus.
To attain the above object, in accordance with aspect 1 of the invention, there is provided an arrangement of memory-card accommodating portions in a recording and reproducing apparatus in which a plurality of card slots for respectively accommodating memory cards are disposed adjacent to each other in a mutually overlapping relation, and eject. buttons for ejecting the memory cards are disposed in individual correspondence with the card slots, characterized in that a set of at least two of the card slots are arranged such that the memory cards are disposed in parallel with each other and are accommodated in a state in which at least partial areas of surfaces of the memory cards oppose each other, and the eject buttons are arranged at positions which are respectively adjacent to the plurality of card slots in a unique manner and which do not overlap in a direction parallel to the surface of the inserted memory card, in order to prevent the eject buttons from being disposed close to each other.
In the invention according to aspect 2, the card slots according to aspect 1 for forming the set are arranged such that the memory cards are accommodated in a state in which only partial areas of the surfaces of the memory cards oppose each other, in order to prevent the eject buttons from being disposed close to each other.
In the invention according to aspect 3, the card slots according to aspect 1 for forming the set are arranged such that the memory cards are accommodated in a state in which entire areas of the surfaces of the memory cards oppose each other, and the eject buttons are respectively disposed in vicinities of one end side and another other end side of the card slots in a uniquely adjacent fashion, in order to prevent the eject buttons from being disposed close to each other.
In the invention according to aspect 4, the eject buttons according to aspect 3 are respectively disposed on sides which are away from mutually opposing sides of the card slots in correspondence with the card slots which form the set, in order to prevent the eject buttons from being disposed close to each other.